SFBG Blogs Archives — Page 395 of 597 — San Francisco Bay Guardian Archive 1966

Reclaim San Francisco’s corporate-sponsored public spaces

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April 9, 2009

corp small.jpg
By Steven T. Jones

I love the idea of temporarily closing streets to cars and transforming them into open space, a concept known as cicolovia that San Francisco has adopted under the moniker Sunday Streets and which now take place in Portland, Miami and New York City, as well as a host of foreign cities where the idea began many years ago.

Last year, the Guardian heavily promoted the first Sunday Streets events and even defended Mayor Gavin Newsom against attacks from supervisors and business interests for supporting them. This year, the first of six Sunday Streets is coming up on April 26. But after looking through the details of this year’s corporate-sponsored events, I’m having a hard time summoning much enthusiasm for them.

San Francisco is slowly becoming a place where it takes corporate backing just to throw a simple street party, or even to ride your Big Wheel down the street, and where failure to fill out the proper forms and display the sponsors’ logos will get you shut down by the cops.

“Blossom”: fashion, beats, and eats

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April 9, 2009

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By Molly Freedenberg

Too classy for BRC? Blanket by Tamo Design.

Faux fur’s not just for Burning Man anymore. Not when it’s in the capable hands of Tamo, who not only uses her extremities to helm her namesake clothing company but also to DJ with the Angels of Bass. The blonde beauty’s hoodies, jackets, and blankets are soft, beautiful, well-constructed, and as appropriate for dinner in Potrero as they are for dancing on the playa (if not more so). Plus, her line of baby items is so damn adorable, it almost makes me want to have a little tike just to outfit him in fuzzy, eco-friendly goodness. (I said almost.) But perhaps what’s best about Tamo is her constant drive to support the independent fashion community through collaborative events like this weekend’s “Bloom” at The Triple Crown. Along with S&G Clothing, Tamo will host a full afternoon of beats, eats, and kickass clothes from 15 designers, including Silver Lucy Design, Steam Trunk, Lemon Twist, and Miss Velvet Cream.

Blossom: Come out and Bloom
April 11, 2-8pm
free, all ages
The Triple Crown
1760 Market, SF
Click here for event link

A Q&A with Nick Cave

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April 9, 2009

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By Johnny Ray Huston

Nick Cave and I probably crossed paths in Heaven one night. Heaven was a club on Woodward Avenue in Detroit where you could go, after 2 a.m., to dance and sweat and lose yourself to the sounds of DJ Ken Collier. Cave’s time in Heaven has made it possible for him to create “Meet Me at the Center of the Earth,” his show at Yerba Buena Center of the Arts. Time spent in that kind of cathartic, uninhibited place is necessary for someone — someone like Cave — to bring people to the Earth’s core and allow them to begin reimagining from the center of existence. When Cave and I talked on the phone recently, the morning of a full-page profile of him appeared in the Sunday New York Times, our discussion started near Heaven, and ended in Barack Obama’s Chicago.

SFBG How has your studio changed over the years, in terms of location, layout, and contents?
Nick Cave My studio has changed according to the way my career has changed. I’ve expanded in space due to demand. I’ve had to bring on more studio assistants. It’s evolved and grown, but without expanding beyond my means. I look at it the same way I did when I had a clothing store. I try to make smart moves.

SFBG Do those things influence your process, or do many of your ideas originate outside of the studio space?
NC I think it does occur outside the studio space. The studio is where the ideas are manifested. The ideas come from being out there in the world — just being open. Though sometimes a revelation may happen in the studio, based on an experience I’m developing. It happens when it happens.

SFBG We’ve both spent formative time in Detroit and the Detroit area. I went to Wayne State [University], while you went to Cranbrook Academy of Art]. I’d love to know more about your experience there with [fiber artist and teacher] Gerhardt Knodel. I wondered also whether you had ties to the club scenes in Detroit or Chicago at any time.
NC Oh, hell yeah [laughs].
Cranbrook was probably the most extraordinary place for me. I could have gone straight to New York [City], or to other schools, but I knew I needed an environment that was somewhat isolated, because of my desires to be distracted by other creative endeavors. Cranbrook provided this amazing intensive rigor and isolation from the world. Yet I had Detroit, which really allowed that gritty balance. It was the best of both worlds. When I needed to get the hell out of Cranbrook, believe me, I did.

Photo by James Prinz

Snap Sounds: From A to Z

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April 9, 2009

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By Johnny Ray Huston

Actress Hazyville (Werk) Werk label head Daniel J. Cunningham charts a triangular electronic space beyond singular genres yet quite familiar. Dark loveliness gives way to boring repetition then returns, while focal points and sources remain just out of reach.

Anita Carter Songbird (Omni) This is singing. The daughter of Maybelle and sister of June (whose husband pitches in on one track) is faultless from the Joe Meek-like future scenario "2001" to the pop of "Hang a Little Sign" on through to the sublimely sad and gorgeous "Sweet Memories."

Various artists The Birth of Bossa (Él/Cherry Red) Weirdly, there are no Tom Jobim recordings here, but the influential "Chega da suade" gets two versions, including one by samba singer Elizeta Cardoso, whose down tempo emotionalism is showcased. Another odd gem from Él and Cherry Red.

Ella Washington He Called Me Baby (Soulscape) A name that evokes two legendary divas couldn’t have helped this Florida woman carve out her own rep. A shame, because she can sing her ass off — tearing it up in the verse, building momentum in the bridge, and ripping the roof off in the chorus. One highlight: "Sit Down and Cry," which even Irma Thomas might envy.

Wavves Wavves (Fat Possum) Wavves wishes they all could be California goths, on the beach, riding the surf, in the summer. The distortion is delicious, as are the guitar solos, the nyah-nyah lead vox and the falsetto harmonies that teeter between blissed out and freaked out.

Wicked Witch Chaos, 1978-86 (Em) The Em label outdoes itself by uncovering this slab of kinky gothic urban funk by one enigmatic leather-and-spike-clad Richard Simms. The 12-minute "Vera’s Back" is a contender for jam of the year.

Playlistism on YouTube after the jump:

Bailout money — for newspapers?

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April 9, 2009

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By Tim Redmond

Check out Nancy Pelosi on the Daily Show with Jon Stewart. SHe looks pretty bad, has no sense of humor, etc, etc, but here’s the fun part:

At one point, Pelosi says that “newspapers” have been calling her, asking for federal TARP bailout money.

Now, I wonder which “newspapers” that might be.

We know Hearst — in the person of Phil Bronstein — has met with Pelosi, and that Pelosi has talked about relaxing antitrust rules for newspapers. Did Bronstein or someone else at Hearst also ask for federal money to support the ailing Chron?

I dunno — Pelosi’s press office hasn’t called me back to say whether she will identify the “newspapers” that have contacted her. I haven’t heard back from Bronstein, either.

I suppose it’s not out of the question — if the taxpayers can bail out AIG and General Motors, why not the San Francisco Chronicle? But would Obama then want to fire the publisher?

Lit: ‘Halliburton’s Army’ uncovers the monster

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April 9, 2009

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By Ben Terrall

Halliburton’s Army: How A Well-Connected Texas Oil Company Revolutionized The Way America Makes War

By Pratap Chatterjee
Nation Books
304 pages
$26.95

Pratap Chatterjee, director of CorpWatch, a dogged, effective monitor of corporate malfeasance, has a long track record as a muckraking journalist. The dirt he uncovers on Dick Cheney and Donald Rumsfeld’s favorite company in Halliburton’s Army could help provide grounds for an interesting, and gratifying, series of court cases.

The “army” of the title is staffed with Asians and other workers of color paid scanty wages to toil at crappy jobs once performed by U.S. soldiers. Chatterjee argues that this contracting has made U.S. warfare cheaper by allowing the Pentagon to spend fewer dollars training troops. The workers on the bottom of the ladder aren’t getting much, while “cost-plus” and no-bid contracts, price-gouging, and kickbacks have shoveled tens of millions Halliburton’s way. A whistleblower involved in an audit that she discovered was really a cover-up estimated that the cost of supporting Halliburton/KBR managers in Kuwait City was $73 million per year. To quote Rep. Henry Waxman (D-Los Angeles) within the book, when the Army outsources “this much work on contract management, they really are outsourcing oversight.”

Chatterjee, author of 2004’s Iraq, Inc: A Profitable Occupation, pulls together a vast amount of information (much of it gathered from trips as a reporter in Iraq and Dubai, where Halliburton moved for sunnier tax climes). At times it threatens to overwhelm his narrative. Harried publishing in tight economic times may be the reason for an excess of subsections with different typefaces — given the impressive reportage, the overall presentation is a bit jumbled. Nonetheless, Halliburton’s Army is an important resource.

Bus riders balance the MTA’s budget while drivers get a free pass

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April 9, 2009

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By Steven T. Jones

If you want to get a real sense of how screwed up this city’s budget priorities are, just look at how the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency is looking to close its whopping $129 million budget deficit.

A good chart in the Examiner the other day detailed the proposals, but it didn’t add them, so let me break it down for you: over $30 million in increased Muni fares, $56.4 million in Muni service cuts, and $11 million in higher parking fees. So poor bus riders contribute almost $90 million to the problem and drivers kick in $11 million.

And to make up the difference, Mayor Gavin Newsom is proposing to sell off taxi medallions, privatizing a public resource in a way that will enrich and give more power to the cab companies. So the average San Franciscan gets screwed and continues to subsidize the automobiles that clog our roadways – a problem that will only get worse as Muni becomes more expensive and less efficient.

It’s no wonder people are pissed and supervisors are threatening to reject the MTA budget. And the MTA’s budget problems are exacerbated by Newsom allowing other city departments — mostly notably the cops — to treat the MTA as a piggy bank for solving their own budget gaps. San Francisco is better than this, and Newsom should pay a heavy political price if he continues on this path.

Peepshow: Missed Connection, found somehow

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April 9, 2009

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Each week Justin Juul highlights a rad upcoming local sexy event

Who: Hardcore Christians and other ridiculous assholes probably won’t agree with me here, but the truth about human desire is that it knows no bounds and is utterly insatiable. What this means is that you can be totally happy and living a life of ease with your soul mate, but that you’re never going to stop wondering what it’d be like to jump in a closet with that hot guy/girl who makes your stupid latte every morning. And then there’s all those chicks and dudes at the park and in the check-out line at Safeway, just standing around in cutoff shorts daring you to risk your life for a one night stand. Torture! In a perfect world, you could fall in love and go on romantic vacations with every doable person you see. But it’s not a perfect world (no cake if you plan on eating, remember?) and so if you want to keep things cool with your long-term lover, those evil sirens just have to be ignored. Or do they? If you live in San Francisco and happen to have a computer, you’ve probably heard of the missed connections section on Craigslist. It’s basically a message board for people who locked eyes with someone recently, decided to stay away for whatever reason, and then thought better of that decision afterward. Now they want to either see that person again or publicly-yet-anonymously fantasize about reconnecting. Girls getting off busses, dudes with perfect hair on connecter flights, baristas, waiters, and rugged gas-station attendants are what the missed connections section is all about. You can pine for them on Craigslist all you want, but if you’re feeling really adventurous, you’ll show up at this art show for another small nibble of forbidden fruit.

Species twists at Move(men)t: A Men’s Dance Festival

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April 9, 2009

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By Rita Felciano

In the history of dance, the male of the species occupies a curious position. In some cultures only men were allowed to dance in public. In Western aristocratic education, dancing was a requirement for a future courtier. But until fairly recently, ballet choreographers consistently undervalued male dancers, and it was women who pioneered modern dance. In the 1930s, however, Ted Shawn’s all-male ensemble did much to break down the prejudice against men in dance. In the Bay Area, every decade or so brings about a refocusing on masculine performances. There is an energy — both virile and tender — to these presentations that, in the past at least, made them very special experiences for men and women alike. Some of that, unquestionably, had to do with the testosterone that just bounced off the walls. Even so, to see so many guys cooperating with each other is still not something we are accustomed to seeing on stage. The latest incarnation of all-male dancing, "Move(men)t: A Men’s Dance Festival," now in its second year, includes Mark Foehringer, who has long choreographed for men; Folawole Oyinlola, of Nigerian descent, who excels in improvisation; Kegan Marling, perhaps best known in his partnership with Jane Schnorrenberg; and Joe Landini’s new San Francisco Moving Men. Ten choreographers in all will show their chops in the tiny but hopping Garage performance space.

MOVE(MEN)T: A MEN’S DANCE FESTIVAL Fri/10–Sat/11, 8 p.m., $10-$20. The Garage, 975 Howard, SF. (415) 885-4006. www.brownpapertickets.com

Blog Love: Sandwich porn at BreadxBread

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April 9, 2009

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Juliette Tang shouts out to local bloggers. Read her last installment here.

Seitan philly cheesesteak from Benders, from Breadxbread

Breadxbread is the San Francisco blog we’ve been waiting for. Devoted entirely to the topic of sandwiches, Breadxbread takes us on the journey a slice of bread takes to find its perfect counterparts in the chaotic world of ingredients, which include the whole mess of things in the world, like seitan, honey ham, and bacon, before finally meeting its partner, that other slice of bread, in a final embrace of harmony, unity, and tastiness. Everyone has an opinion on where to get the best sandwich in San Francisco, but for the bloggers at Breadxbread, the search for the holy grail of sandwiches is a neverending pursuit. Updating at a frequency that suggests AW and JoJoJoJo subsist entirely on a diet of things in sandwich form, their blog is peppered with photos and reviews of sandwiches, which they either get from various places, mostly concentrated in the Mission and its immediate surrounds, or that they make at home. Breadxbread is singlehandedly responsible for reigniting my interest in Mr. Pickles Sandwich Shop on the corner of 20th and South Van Ness, which I have passed and peeked inside many times but which I’ve never felt motivated to try until now.

Protest the BART police — in Sacramento

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April 9, 2009

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By Tim Redmond

The protests over the latest BART police killing continue, with one activist chased out of a BART Board meeting today after trying to throw red paint on General Manager Dorothy Dugger.

I’m not endorsing paint-throwing (though pies are always fun), but it’s clear that the BART protests need to continue, because the BART Board members simply will not accept adequate police oversight unless it’s forced on them.

And that’s what Assembly Member Tom Ammiano is trying to do. His bill to require civilian oversight for the BART Police will be heard in the Assembly Public Safety Committee April 14, 9 am, in the state Capitol Room 126. There needs to be a strong showing of support.

Assmbly member Fiona Ma is on that committee, and is weak on this issue. Call her office before the hearing ((916) 319-2012) and let her know you support the measure.

The BART cops will try to derail this. The BART Board is not on board. This will be up to the rest of us; let’s give Ammiano and civilian oversight a show of support.

Street Threads: Look of the Day

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April 9, 2009

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SFBG photog Ariel Soto scoops SF street fashion. See the previous Look of the Day here.

Today’s Look: Faith, Civic Center

Tell us about your look: “I’m a thrift store connoisseur.”

Ammiano hijacks the Muni

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April 8, 2009

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Today’s Ammianoliner:

Pirates try to hjack Muni. Attempt fails. Muni never shows.

(From the home telephone answering machine of Assemblyman Tom Ammiano on Wednesday,
April 8, 2007.)

Bruce Willis honored at Sonoma International Film Festival

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April 8, 2009

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By Juliette Tang

The 12th Annual Sonoma International Film Festival, a festival celebrating “the best in food, wine, art and music,” ended weekend with a big tribute and party in honor of Bruce Willis, an inexplicable choice in every sense except that he happens to be good friends with the Festival’s executive director, Kevin McNeely. Personally, I’ve never been not the biggest Bruce Willis fan, though I thought his performances in The Sixth Sense and Twelve Monkeys were understated and effective. Bruce is not just an actor in the cut-and-dry sense, but an uber-celebrity. His movies regularly make billions of dollars worldwide, and he is the 7th highest grossing actor of all time. Even though I’m not the type of person to watch action movies, I’ve seen every single Die Hard, either at friend’s houses, or on an airplane somewhere, or just because it was a Saturday and I was tuned onto TNT – it’s one of those movies that, chances are, you will somehow see even if you don’t try to see it, just by merit of being alive. And despite (or maybe, because of) the baldness-induced machismo and the faint but perceptible odor of sleaze he emits, some women really like him. How? Why?

Perhaps Bruce Willis’ special brand of je ne sais quoi is due to his beautiful singing voice? Check out some great vintage Bruce, after the jump.

A guide to artists with famous namesakes

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April 8, 2009

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Read the growing number of enthusiastic articles about Soundsuit creator Nick Cave and you’ll soon notice most of them have something in common — at one point or another, the journalist or author has to interject that this Nick Cave isn’t the Australian gothic blues dirge icon. Cave the dancer-turned-sculptor/designer likely faces his musical namesake at every turn, but he is just one contemporary visual artist with a well-known moniker. To clarify matters, behold this illustrated breakdown.

NAME Nick Cave
FORTE Murder ballads
SIDE GIGS Writing, acting, and leading Sinnerman
CURRENT PROJECTS Dig, Lazarus, Dig!!! (Mute, 2008); a screenplay with the Leonard Cohen-ish title Death of a Ladies’ Man
QUOTE “An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth / And anyway I told the truth / And I’m not afraid to die.”

NAME Nick Cave
FORTE Sculpture, video, and artistic fashion with untamed imagination
SIDE GIGS Dance and choreography
CURRENT PROJECTS “Meet Me at the Center of the Earth,” at Yerba Buena Center for the Arts; a 90 Soundsuit dance performance in 2012 at Chicago’s Millennium Park
QUOTE “The arts are our salvation — the only thing that allows us to heal and also helps us dream about what will make the world a better place.”

NAME Phil Collins
FORTE Blue-eyed soul, romantic movie themes, turning prog into pop, drumming, Alamo artifact collecting, and becoming an icon of male pattern baldness
SIDE GIGS Duets with Billy Ocean, replacing Peter Gabriel in Genesis
CURRENT PROJECTS Fatherhood, greatest hits collections
QUOTE “She’s an easy lover / Before you know it you’ll be on your knees.”; “I feel so good if I just say the word / Su-su-sussudio.”

Death of Fun: SFPD’s crackdowns and shakedowns

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April 8, 2009

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By Steven T. Jones

OK, things are starting to get ridiculous! For years, we’ve been warning our readers about the impending Death of Fun in San Francisco, but now the city crackdowns are coming so fast and furious that it’s tough to keep up.

Since our last reports on Bay to Breakers restrictions and threats to go after flash mobs such as the Valentine’s Day pillow fight, police officers have rudely shut down the Flashdance dance party, repeatedly swept through Dolores Party busting people for drinking, and now they’re threatening tickets and arrests for participants in this coming weekend’s Bring Your Own Big Wheel event.

Seriously, exactly what law is someone breaking by riding a Big Wheel down the street? Police officials have been unable to tell me, and they say they’ll get back to me about that and their other crackdowns. Meanwhile, they’re still demanding that the How Weird Street Faire come up with almost $10,000 in protection money in advance of the May 10 event.

I know that we have a budget crisis, but are extortion and aggressive ticketing really how we want the SFPD to close its budget gap? Isn’t the right to peacefully assemble one of our bedrock constitutional guarantees? And in a vibrant, colorful city like San Francisco, why is fear trumping fun?

Gui Boratto comes back to the Bay

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April 8, 2009

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Gui Boratto‘s Chromophobia (Kompakt, 2007) was the sound of minimal techno going pop, its array of sonic colors gorgeous enough to cure the titular malady. With the new Take My Breath Away (Kompakt), Boratto ventures further into pop’s immediacy and epic aspects. Though the eco-pun cover image might be the worst art for any Kompakt release, I love more than enough of it, especially the portentously named "Opus 217" and his latest collaboration with wife Luciana Villanova, "No Turning Back." The Brazilian Boratto has SF ties, another reason why a visit by him should be a party to remember.

Fri/10, 10 p.m.-4 a.m., $13

Paradise Lounge

1501 Folsom, SF

(415) 252-5017

www.paradisesf.com

Hot sex events this week: April 8-14

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April 8, 2009

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Compiled by Molly Freedenberg

Let Mistress Tatiana teach you the ropes at her “Spanking and Paddling” class.

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>> RADAR reading series featuring Lorelei Lee
Michelle Tea’s reading series featuring emerging, underground writers and artists gets even hotter this week when Renee Hahn, Patrick O’Neil, and Bucky Sinister are joined by porn performer Lorelei Lee.

Wed/8, 6pm
Free
San Francisco Public Library
100 Larkin, SF
www.myspace.com/radarreading

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>> Taoist Energetic Healing & BDSM
Expand your knowledge and expertise in sensation, energy, and Eros with information, education, dialogue, and demonstration by Tahil Gesyuk.

Fri/10, 7pm
$20 sliding scale
Center for Sex and Culture
1519 Mission, SF.
sexandculture.org

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>> Spanking and Paddling
Learn one of the most basic and versatile skills in the S&M repertoire with Mistress Tatiana Belodyne (of Fantasy Makers Academy), including different positions, pacing, safety tips, and demonstrations with models.

Mon/13, 8-10pm
$25
Good Vibrations Berkeley
2504 San Pablo, Berk.
(510) 841-8987
www.goodvibes.com

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>> Ink & Metal
Hot men with tattoos and piercings get special discounts at this weekly bar night.

Tue/14, open-close
Powerhouse
1347 Folsom, SF
(415) 552-8689
www.powerhouse-sf.com

Mayor’s Homeless Count report: Just as invisible as many homeless San Franciscans

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April 8, 2009

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By Rebecca Bowe

On an evening in late January, hundreds of volunteers hit the streets of San Francisco to complete the 2009 Homeless Count, a biennial point-in-time head count of homeless persons in the city. The count is required by the US Department of Housing and Urban Development for all jurisdictions receiving federal funding to provide housing and services for the homeless. To do it, city staffers from various departments team up with volunteers to go out into city streets, emergency shelters, drop-in centers, jails and hospitals to take a tally of how many homeless people they encounter.

In the weeks leading up to it, the Mayor Gavin Newsom issued a press release announcing that he was working with the city’s Human Services Agency to conduct the point-in-time count. “Having an accurate count of our homeless community is essential in determining the effectiveness of our homeless outreach efforts,” Newsom said in a statement. “We’ve got a long way to go toward ending chronic homelessness in San Francisco, but this count will help us to continue in the right direction.”

We called the Mayor’s Office of Communications in January and asked them to keep us in the loop when the results of the homeless count were released. Given the tanking economy, home foreclosures, and anecdotal accounts of rising homelessness, we were interested to see what this survey might reveal. Yet after submitting a series of requests to the MOC earlier this week for the homeless count results, we were finally told: “There has not been a report that has been released.”

Really? How strange. Because Jennifer Friedenbach from the Coalition on Homelessness later forwarded us a document from the city titled “2009 Homeless Count: Executive Summary,” featuring an introduction, survey methods, homeless count results, and analysis. Looks like a report. Sounds like a report. It must be a report!

Sonic Reducer Overage: Brit, Devendra, Japanther, Fleet Foxes, and more

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April 8, 2009

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Brooklyn cheer: Japanther’s “Challenge.”

“Rising above the smoke and debris” – yes, we can. More to do, see, and hear…

Undebateable: Eef Barzelay’s “I Love the Unknown.”

Clem Snide
Hungry Bird (429), the latest release by the Boston-born band, almost succeeded in killing Clem Snide. Yet Eef Barzelay carries forth – sweet Snide ‘tude in hand – alongside Brendan Fitzpatrick and Ben Martin. With the Heligoats and Pepi Ginsberg. Wed/8, 9 p.m., $10-$12. Bottom of the Hill, 1233 17th St., SF. (415) 621-4455.

Love X Nowhere
Immaculate shoegaze and anthemic pop stream from the SF fivesome’s new self-released High Score Blackout. With Headlights and the Love Language. Thurs/9, 9 p.m., $10. Bottom of the Hill, 1233 17th St., SF. (415) 621-4455.

Live Review: Bridez at the Knockout 4/2

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April 8, 2009

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By Laura Mason

Members of lo-fi favorites Bridez hang out in this “candid” pic.

We may pride ourselves on this city’s intellectual panache or European debonaire, but the real ego tripping starts with the thriving rock & roll pedigree ingrained in the underbelly of San Francisco that I suspect is the real reason the city’s 20-something set gets dressed in the morning.

This snarling, sweating rock & roll animal is the perfect companion to the stiff drinks and barroom sleaze that dominate our night lives, and bottle-feeding this beast is Bridez. Their lo-fi gospel is true blue, rough-hewn and rife with cool angst, fronted by a singer who could be the testtube lovechild of Karen O., Lou Reed and Courtney Love. Chanteuse Liza Thorn, formerly of So So Many White White Tigers, has impressively mastered a white-hot on-stage swagger most girls only have the courage to do in front of a bedroom mirror, and is quickly blooming into the blazing frontwoman San Francisco needs.

Street Threads: Look of the Day

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April 8, 2009

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SFBG photog Ariel Soto scoops SF street fashion. See the previous Look of the Day here.

Today’s Look: Elizabeth, City Hall

Tell us about your look: “I’ll wear anything as long as it’s comfortable.”

Marissa Nadler, where is your unicorn?

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April 7, 2009

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By Kimberly Chun

Who is the shy girl casting her eyes downward on the cover of Little Hells (Kemado)? Here in Hell, Marissa Nadler could be a damsel who has tumbled from a frayed tapestry in search of her unicorn, a crystal doll who has escaped from her vitrine, or a tubercular maid who has slipped out of her Victorian deathbed photograph to traipse this earthly plane. She’s the dark, downbeat cousin of the enormous-eyed cameo cutie gracing The Saga of Mayflower May (Eclipse, 2005), the sunlit warbler singing in the lawn at the first Arthur Fest, and the whimsical Rhode Island School of Design-educated artist I spoke to around the time of Songs III: Bird on the Water (Kemado, 2007).

With her fourth full-length, Nadler enters a new, more synthetic, and increasingly richer musical realm than that on her previous recordings — one outfitted with its own exquisite troubles and terrors. The almost imperceptibly swooping faux strings that strafe "Heart Paper Lover" sound like tiny planes dive-bombing a cruel sweetheart. The goth muses slumbering within Nadler’s out-folk also come to light, blinking: one imagines Mary Shelley waking to find herself in Frankenstein’s grave-dirt-encrusted shoes on the harpsichord-strewn, almost Sisters of Mercy-like "Mary Comes Alive." Still, Nadler’s voice has never sounded so fine — catching itself on miniscule beads of longing on "Rosary" and fading, delicately detuned, like a dying darling on "Ghosts and Lovers."

MARISSA NADLER With Eric Shea. Wed/8, 9:30 p.m., $10-$12. Cafe du Nord, 2170 Market, SF. (415) 861-5016, www.cafedunord.com